People love to watch comedians and the best comedians usually end up either in LA or NYC, because of the ample opportunities for stage time and movie roles. Recently I went to NYC to see if doing stand-up comedy in New York City is as great as people make it out to be and it was better than I even thought. The scene in New York City for stand-up comedy is the best that I had experienced so far. When I live in South Florida and if I want to perform in 2 rooms a lot of times it can take me two to three hours to pull this off due to the rooms being spread out so far apart. Also in South Florida you won’t be able to perform on a Saturday night unless you are on a booked show and on a Friday night you are lucky to be able to perform in one room. However when I was in New York City and I wanted to do comedy I could have performed in three rooms on a Friday and I did stand-up comedy in a couple of rooms on a Saturday night. Basically in New York City if you want to do stand-up comedy three times a day for at least five times a week you are able to pull this off.

The reason why going on stage is so important is because the only way you are going to know if they joke is any good is by seeing the audience’s reaction after testing it out in multiple rooms. If you only do two rooms a week in South Florida it can take you a few months to come up with 5 minutes of material while in NYC due to them having so many opportunities for stage time you are able to come up with 5 minutes of material in a few weeks.

Another thing that I noticed about comedy in NYC is that the comics use word play and place a significance on words when telling their jokes. The comedians from NYC are so talented that I saw a freshman from NYU tell jokes and he was so good that he could feature (Tell jokes on stage for 20-25 minutes) down in South Florida. NYC comics’ jokes tend to be concise and to the point. In case you ever go to NYC and you watch some great comedy without paying $40 for the cover charge and two drink minimum then go to Stand-Up NY, Laughing Buddha and Klimat Lounge (It’s a one item purchase minimum). If you are a comic and you want to get stage time than make sure you register online (It’s a $5 charge) to be put on the list at badslava.com. If you don’t register online than you most likely won’t be able to get on stage.

There is no city such as New York City and there is no comedy scene in the world like the one we have in NYC.

Any comedian will tell you that dealing with hecklers can be annoying at times, but personally I find it to be entertaining. At least a heckler is watching my set.  How do I deal with a heckler?  I had this happen to me by a frat guy at the Funky Buddha a few months ago and here is how I handled it. At first I will give the person the benefit of the doubt and ignore them. If they persist than I will crack a little joke about them such “Look who is desperate for attention gang”.  If they continue I will make a couple more jokes about them (Each joke digs deeper into the heckler with the intention of getting the audience to laugh at them so much that they end up getting embarrassed to speak further and risk getting humiliated more).  At that point most of them end up stopping and the ones that don’t usually end up getting shushed by the other audience members. I like that 99% of the audience members are on your side and they just want to have a great time. Sometimes a little heckling is fun, because it keeps life interesting.

It was the day of the contest and I had never been so nervous in my life, because it was the biggest contest that I ever competed in. I was competing against 30 comedians for 6 spots and a chance to win the title of Ultimate Miami Comedian which included a $5,000 check. I show up to the event and see old and new friends at the contest. The host calls us all over and tells us that we all have 3 minutes to perform. 3 minutes, that is so short, it takes me 3 minutes just to start off a story. I decided that even though I was nervous I was going to go out there and if I was going to get out than I would strike out swinging. It was my turn to go on stage, I take a deep breath go up there and start performing. I began using my improv skills to make fun of Magic City Casino and joke around the audience. Then I poke fun at the bouncers and continue on with my set. Sure, I got some laughs and a Booker was interested in having me perform at his show, but I lost 3 or 4 jokes due to my attempt of doing background work at the beginning of the contest. As a result of this I just missed the cut and I didn’t advance into the finals. The people who advanced did a great job and they deserve to compete in the finals. I was just happy that i went up on stage and I put forth my best effort. I am unhappy not being placed in the finals, but overall I was content that I gave it my best shot. I will keep writing and performing and by the time Ultimate Miami’s Comedian contest comes up next year I will be ready to deliver more laughs and make it to the finals.

Recently I performed at the Fort Lauderdale Improv in front of 200 people. I dreamed of being a comedian since I was a teenager and was happy to get to this point of my life where I was able to do stand-up comedy in front of so many people at such a prestigious venue. How did I get to this point of my life? I got to it by going to as many open mic nights as possible and by practicing my jokes on anyone who is willing to listen.

There I am getting ready to go on stage, I am excited yet nervous. Worried what will happen if I mess up a line or tell a joke, but don’t get laughs, but then I saw my mentor Dean Napolitano perform on stage and saw that he was confident and didn’t care if he got a laugh or not and that motivated me to just go out there and be myself. So I went on stage and I had the time of my life.